Quebecois raced into theaters over the long weekend to see Nitro, which has grossed over $1.2 million since its release on Friday, according to distributor Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm, making good on hopes that the big-budget thriller could beat Ratatouille and Live Free or Die Hard.

The CG comedy and the Bruce Willis sequel — numbers one and two, respectively, at the weekend box office throughout North America — both took a backseat to the top-placed French-language thriller, which stars Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge (Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making) as a man in a race against time to find a new heart for his dying wife. Lucie Laurier (Bon Cop, Bad Cop) also stars.

‘We’re number one in Quebec by far,’ says AAV president Patrick Roy. ‘It was pretty strong everywhere, including the region outside Montreal, which is key to the success. When these movies do well only in the big city, you know they’re not going to last very long.’

Roy notes that Nitro performed better as the weekend wore on, indicating good word of mouth. He says it will not expand in its second week. ‘We’re pretty much maxed out,’ at 124 screens, he says. ‘I’m not sure we could get more than that.’

Nitro, shot last year for $7.2 million by Alain Desrochers, working under producer Pierre Even (C.R.A.Z.Y.) at Cirrus Communications, opened with a big push from AAV that included TV spots and a promotional tour by the cast and crew. Twelve of the prints included English subtitles.